Cushion pad



Dec. 15, 1936.` H C KRANNERT 064,122

CUSHION PAD Filed Deo. 29, .1934

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES CUSHION PAD j.

Herman C. Krannert, New Augusta, Ind., assignor to Fruit and Produce Packing; Inc., "Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation Application December 29, 1934, Serial No. 759,710

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the fruit packing industry and is particularly directed to the top cushion structure.

Within the past several years it is the prac- 5 tice to pack fruit and the like in containers, such as boxes, crates, half and bushel baskets. The containers are usually provided with a liner to protect the fruit from contacting the material of the container and becoming scored or creased thereby, and further from absorbing or becoming tainted with the odor of the material comprising the container, since in many instances green wood has and is now being used yfor the manufacture of said containers.

In the Hiatt system which is represented by several Hiatt patents heretofore granted, the

packer completely fills the container so that when the cover or top of the container is placed thereon it slightly compresses the top layer of fruit that substantially i'llls the container. In other Words, the top operatively bears down upon the top layer of fruit. This is known as a full pack.

In shipment and storage these baskets and containers are stacked one upon the other and the additional weight of successive containers bows the top inwardly to a degree, in some inline of the containerv (herein shown circularv be- 40, cause applied to a bushel basket) and embodying a relatively at chamber of limited volume and containing corrugated material that isfreely expansible, the expansibility being limitedby the- Wall of the chamber. It has been found ;.that two layers of corrugated paper of relatively soft stockV is highly satisfactory andiit has,

further been determined thatV three layers superposed` one upon the other is even more satisfactory, forming a pad with a thickness of from to 1/2", each corrugated sheet being approximately 1A, in thickness between the two planes tangent to the oppositely projecting corrugated edges of the corrugated sheet.

No claim is made for a paper board comprising a liner, adhesively or otherwise secured to a corrugated sheet. No claim is made for a product itself'` comprising a plurality of corrugated sheetsk adhesively secured together with their corrugations positioned angularly of each other.

The reason for the non-suitabilityof such paper board structures for cushion pad purposes is that this material being secured substantially along eachcorrugation to another corrugated sheet or to a liner, as the case may be, or to both,.when subjected to pressure can onlyyield in the particularl corrugation by deforming that particular -vcorrugation and when it yields it forms a creasing or folding of that deformed material between .the other two immediately adjacent connections of adjacent corrugations and this creased or deformed portion mars the fruit.

'The present invention is directed to a con- The' invention also has the advantage of being I of relatively simple construction. A high rate of` commercial production is possible, one operator being capable of making approximately two thousand per hour, thereby permitting the pad to be sold at a relatively low cost. The cushioning material-v being of relatively cheappaper stock that is considerably softer and weaker than the ordinary stock used for the manufacture of'corrugated boxesl or board permits selling of the capsfat aK relatively low cost.

' Therfullfnatureof the invention-will be understood from thel accompanying drawing and the following description and claimszv {I'n the drawing Figi'. 1` is'a central sectional view of aY bushel basket provided with a Hiatt or Yequivalent linfer and a bottom pad, if and when desired; the. fruit being shown dotted therein andthe' cushion pad, the subject matter yof tlveinvention4 being showny applied to the top.

Eig."2.islaperspectiveview of the pad.

Fig. 3, is an enlarged sectional view of one forniofthe` pad embodying the invention, the lattergbeing shown provided with three corrugated cushion.sl'leets.V of an:y outline substantially conforming to the outline of the chamber.

- stock and indicated by the numeral35.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the form of the invention embodying four sheets.

In the drawing, Il) indicates a suitable container, herein shown in the form of a bushel basket, having the handles the base or support I2, and adapted to contain fruit I3 and to be provided with a cover, not shown. Interposed between the cover and superposed upon the fruit is a cushion pad I4. Ihistype of construction represents the so-called full pack system applied to a container, such as a bushel basket.

In Fig. 2 the pad is illustrated in perspective and is shown provided with a rim portion I5 which is approximately 1/2" to 3A" in width.

In Fig. 3 the details of the pad construction, the subject matter of this invention, are illustrated. In this figure a liner sheet I6 of thin tough paper and having the desired outlinecorresponding to that of the container, is provided with a rim portion I'I and another liner I8 is provided with a rim portion I 9, the two rim portions abutting each other1and being adhesively secured together and provided with an exposed, serrated, free edge'25.

This forms a sealed envelope of the desired outline and volume.

Within the chamber 20 formed vby the Vtwo liners, there is positioned a plurality of sheets of corrugated soft paper having an outline corresponding to the outline of the chamber 2|). The plurality of sheets Yare so arranged that 'the longitudinaldirections of the corrugations of two adjacent sheets are positioned angularly of each other. In Fig. 3, merely for convenience, this vangularity is illustrated as 90. The upper corrugated sheet is indicated by the numeral 2|, the lower corrugated sheet by the numeral 22 and the intermediate .corrugated Vsheetby the numeral 23. As illustrated, sheets 2|. and 22 have their corrugations substantially parallel to mediate Vcorrugated sheet 23lis of the same char-Y acter as sheets 2| and 22. YIn other Words, it may be identical therewith but it is. Positioned in the chamber so that the direction Iof its corrugation is angularlyzof that of the. direction of the corrugation4 in sheets 2| `and 22.

In Fig. 4 there is` illustrated a portion ofoiie form of the invention and herein four plies of corrugated paper are provided. The upper liner may be indicated by the numeral 30, its rim by the numeral 3|, the lower liner by the numeral 32 and its rim by the`numeral 33, the two rims beingadhesively, orotherwise, suitably secured together, toprovide an enclosed chamber 34 of limited volume, said rims havingserrated edges. v.; Positioned inthe chamber :34 of limited volume is a sheet ofy corrugated paper of relatively soft Therebeneath is a similar sheetl36, thedirections of the two corrugations being angular to Veach other,

and'herein `for convenience, it is illustrated 'as at 90.r Therebeneath is another ',sheet; of corrugated paper 31 whichfin the present instance, is illustrated 'as' havingVv its corrugations substantially parallel to the corrugationsof the sheet 35,

and therebeneath is another sheet of corrugated paper 38 having its corrugations positioned angularly of the corrugations in sheet 31 and pai'- allel to the corrugations in sheet 36.

After the container ID has been lled to what is known as full-pack capacity, the pad, or pads, sections of which are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is placed on the fruit andthen the cover is applied over the pad and secured tothe container. Due to the fact that thecorrugations are not fixed, or bonded to a liner, or liners, and alsof'to the arrangement `of two or more plies of this unlined corrugated board, having Vthe direction of the corrugations in adjoining sheets angular to each other, whenever the high points of a group of fruit are brought in contact with this type of pad and under pressure, the formation of the corrugations in the various sheets slightly alters in shape, having a tendency to crowd the excess bo-ard between lthe adjoining pieces of fruit, thus building up a nest or cup so that the pressure placed on the receptacle or container and upon the top tierof fruit is not only applied to the fruit at the points of contact, but is gently spread against the adjoining surface of the fruit which normally does not come in contact with the cover of the container. Complete flattening of the pad is prevented because the chamber included within the liners is of limited volume and'consequently the cushioning featureis retained,l since all of the corrugations cannot flatten out but only that portion of the corrugation sheet -in operative bearing contact withthe fruit can and does vflatten out. i

YWhile the invention has been described in great detail in the foregoingathe Ysameisvto be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character and the modiiicationsdisclosed herein, as wellas others which will readily suggestthemselves to persons skilled in this art, -are all considered to berwithin the broad scope of the claims appended hereto. I Y Y The invention claimed isz- 1. A cushion cap for cushioning fruit and the like in containers without marring of the fruit, comprising a chamber forming envelope of the desired outline and shallow depth and of relatively thin tough paper providing an interior chamber of limited volume, and. compressible means therein and of. substantiallyl the same volume as the chamber, said compressible meansl sivetransference oflsuch deformation throughout Y the sheet for enlargement thereof being pre-- Vented by sheet connement within the chamber. -2. A device as dened byclaim 1,-characterizedby the Originall deformation of each sheet being of corrugated character andfthenon-nesting arrangement ofithecorruga'tions comprising aV biased; relationship between corrugations of adjacent sheets. Y l' 7,

.- HERMAN C.`KR.ANNERT. 

